First Time Skipper

Chris Woodward spent 12 seasons in the majors on seven different teams. The scrappy backup infielder soaked up plenty of knowledge while spending time on the bench. That helped him as he moved into coaching -- the last three years with the Dodgers. His managerial experience came from piloting New Zealand during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. And Friday, we learned Woodward will be the next manager of the Texas Rangers.
That's a club stocked with promising young hitters such as Joey Gallo, Jurickson Profar, Rougned Odor and Nomar Mazara. Woodward's challenge is backing them with enough pitching to help them compete with the cross-state rival Astros, and surprising A's.
Woodward also fits the profile for managers -- successful skippers tend to be benchwarmers or other players who couldn't be called stars. When you check the list of the winningest managers of all time, you won't find one Hall of Fame player, and only two you'd call stars or very good players -- Joe Torre (#5) and Dusty Baker (#15). And Bucky Harris, Casey Stengel, Lou Piniella and Leo Durocher could even be ranked as better than average.
The challenge is to make players, many more talented than you, achieve their best.
(My image is from the August 5th, 2017 Dodgers/Mets game at Citi Field.)

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